No BS Blog

I had coffee with a former classmate from high school the other day and the topic of heroes came up. Actually we going through that crazy hypothetical exercise: if you could have five people sitting around a dinner table, any five people, who would it be? Mine were mainly rock stars including Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, and Mozart. However I snuck in Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to make it six. I felt like I needed to add someone like Einstein, Darwin, Stalin, or Napoleon, but I couldn’t visualize who would sit next to whom. Anyway we got to talking about how social media, especially Twitter, gives people the feeling of being closer to the ones they admire. But following someone is not nearly the thrill of going backstage, or if you’re really lucky getting asked onto the tour bus. In fact in most cases, simply being a Facebook Fan or a follower on Twitter doesn’t get you any closer to the artist. But it’s the perception that you’re closer. In reality you’d have a better chance of meeting that person by hanging out at the stage door after the show. (If you haven’t seen Almost Famous - see it).

This line of conversation led to the question: is it better to meet your heroes or not? My buddy has been a life-long Bob Dylan fan; attended hundreds of shows, collected memorabilia, camped outside waiting to buy tickets - you get the picture. Last year his big moment came in Chicago. He was in the Windy City to see Dylan and on his way through the hotel lobby, there sat Bob Dylan, alone, in a corner, wearing sunglasses, reading the paper, and drinking coffee. This was it - 30 years in the making - my buddy’s big opportunity. He approached Bob, said “Excuse me, Mr. Dylan?.” Dylan looked up - my friend started to tell him how much his music has meant to him - and Dylan pushed away from the table, got up and simply walked away. That was it. So if he had it to do all over again? He would’ve kept walking and never approached his hero.

I struggle with this issue - not that I’ve met my hero - but I have a feeling one day I’ll be in a position to meet Dave Matthews and I’m not sure what to do. What if he turns out to be like Dylan? Will I never listen to his music the same again? What would I say? “Dave your music inspires me” - gee I’m sure he’s never heard that before! But if I don’t take advantage of the opportunity I’ll never get that photo - you know where the artist puts his arm around the fan and the fan looks a thousand times more excited than the artist? I don’t want to be that guy. I also don’t want to follow Dave on Twitter because I’m afraid I’ll start to believe that we’re somehow connected - which we’re not.

Social media has some addictive qualities to it - a strange brew of sorts. One sip, you want more, it makes you believe you’re closer to people than you really are, it makes you believe you have millions of friends, and you just can’t get enough of this concoction. We check it - first thing in the morning, middle of the day, on our mobile devices, and last thing at night. But most of us are not any closer to our heroes than we were before Facebook and Twitter. Maybe that’s a good thing? Maybe not. So I leave you with this one question: should we ever meet our heroes?

Howie

PS: Dave…are you out there?

Tonight I got to hang out with a bunch of really smart people from technology companies across Washington State. For those of you not familiar with the WTIA Industry Achievement Awards, just think Grammy or Academy Awards - but on a local level for tech companies, and with no Lady Gaga. I presented the award for the Commercial Product or Service of the Year. I also presented one of my favorite lists - the Top 10 Myths PR Agencies Want You To Believe - http://www.barokas.com/myths
I was met with a warm reception by the audience, although I get the feeling I pissed-off a few PR people. Oh well

Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners. Maybe next year we can do the event NOT in an echo chamber. Just something to think about…think about…think about…

Howie

I’ve resisted writing about Tiger Woods for a few reasons. First, nobody is perfect - we all screw-up now and then. Next, it has felt like low hanging fruit; it’s too easy to poke fun at the guy when he’s in a ditch - I consider that cheating. Much in the way that Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t swear in his routines - he considers it “taking the easy way out”. I see Jerry’s point but Chris Rock is sure funny, and his quote “A man is only as faithful as his options” seems very appropriate given this subject matter. Anyway, I’ve decided to chat with you about Tiger because it feels like we should analyze his public apology last week, and maybe learn from it. Actually it’s not just Mr. Woods who is in the apologetic frame of mind. Today, James Lentz the President of Toyota’s US Operations publicly apologized during a congressional testimony.

At some point we’ve all done it - made the apology. Maybe not while 30 million people are watching or to members of the United States Congress, but we’ve found the strength and courage to say “I’m sorry - I was wrong - I shouldn’t have done that”. Apologies are never easy especially if you’re staring into a camera apologizing to millions of angry people in TV Land. You’ve likely seeing one or more of these public apologies: Bill Clinton apologizing about his tryst with Monica, Russell Crowe for throwing a telephone at a hotel bell-boy, Michael Vick for animal cruelty, and the list goes on and on. What I’m wanting to analyze is not whether Toyota knew the brakes didn’t work, or Tiger did “it” cause he could, or if Bill really thought “that” didn’t qualify as sex - no - I want to look at what makes a good mea culpa.

You may be surprised but there has been extensive research on what qualifies as a good apology and what doesn’t. So many nuances can make or break the apology; tone, sorrowful look, tears, attire, body positioning, eye-contact, no eye-contact, too much eye-contact, etc. In many ways preparing for a public apology is much like a launch of a new product. Who is the audience? What do they want to hear? What don’t they want to hear? How much is enough? Is it - the product/apology - relevant in their lives? And will they talk about it amongst their friends, blog about it, tweet it, put it on their wall - and so on. I don’t recall every having to work with a client to publicly apologize but if I had here are some considerations and tips I would have shared. Hypothetically of course.

The CEO is not always the ideal person to make the apology. Although viewed as admirable it is not always necessary to have a company’s top-dog make the public apology. It may feel like the right decision at the time, and in some cases it is, but not always. The downside to not having the CEO speak is the potential risk of people criticizing the company for not taking the mistake serious enough. But the decision to use the CEO should be weighed carefully.

Say you’re sorry. Many well intended apologies never end-up being apologies because the person delivering them doesn’t say I AM SORRY. They’ll dance around it by saying things like “I’d like to apologize” or “I’m asking for your forgiveness”. Just say it and mean it. Otherwise don’t waste anyone’s time.

Don’t make excuses. One way to quickly ruin a perfectly good apology is to make excuses for your actions. You’ll lose your audience before you ever get started down the path of redemption. Own it, don’t make excuses for it. Tiger said he felt a sense of entitlement; why because he can hit a tiny ball in a hole from 400 yards away? So…that makes it cool to sleep around?

Do not deliver the apology as if you’re reading lines in a Middle School play. We’re not robots or machines - we’re living, feeling individuals. It’s okay to display some emotion - but take it easy on the tears, that shows weakness. If you’re going to apologize it should come from the heart (and maybe a little bit from a PR person). And don’t apologize into a Teleprompter, it doesn’t feel real.

Don’t say too much, but say enough. This is a tricky one. An apology needs to show an acknowledgement of a bad decision(s) but it shouldn’t sidetrack into areas that are not relevant to the incident(s) at hand. Exercise brevity - but make sure the key points are addressed.

Have a remedy. Once the apology is made, be prepared to share what you are doing right now to fix the problem: pulling the product from store shelves, entering a rehab program, paying the people back, doing community service, only sleeping with your wife, etc. People need to hear that you’re sorry AND that you have a plan in place so you don’t have to apologize a second time around. That gets really, really tricky.

I hope our time together today was of value and has given you some good pointers if you’re ever needing to apologize. If not, I’d like to offer a heartfelt, and sincere apology for wasting your time. For that, I am genuinely sorry.

Although from the title of this post you may think the topics are linked, they’re not. Two observations, same day, and I wanted to rant. First, the golden arches.

In case you’ve been on another planet or simply were not aware, food from McDonald’s and the likes, is not good for you. In fact it’s slowly killing millions of Americans each year; far more than any terrorist group. But apparently Ronald and Co. aren’t satisfied with clogging billions of arteries, they also find it necessary to take money away from the Special Olympics. Aghast? Me too. Here’s the scoop.

Meet 19 year-old Lauren McClusky, a student at Boston University. For the past three years McClusky
has organized a charity concert called McFest that features high school and college bands, with proceeds going to the Chicago Chapter of the Special Olympics. So what’s the beef? Well McDonald’s got pissed when Lauren attempted to register the name - McFest - with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2008, and filed a challenge claiming ownership to the “Mc” - even though it’s the prefix to her last name. So far she’s spent $5,000. responding to McDonald’s challenge and a court date is set for December. Mickey D’s wants her to change the name of the event because they feel it could link their empire to the charitable event. And the problem is….? Greedy bastards.

“Are you hungry?. We’re looking for a group that’s hungry and wants to help a start-up thrive. So, is BPR hungry?,” asked the eager man from the just-funded company on the other end of the line. What is it with this “hungry” term and why do so many companies like to use it as a euphemism instead of just saying “Here’s the deal: we want a ton of work, but we’re barely able to pay for it.” I get that companies are being more mindful of their marketing budgets and want to make their dollars last. But why disguise it with the whole hungry thing? Free yourselves - call a spade a spade. I’m all for bargaining - there is beauty in the art of the deal. Everybody wins, and everyone gives a little - that’s good business.

At BPR we’ve helped dozens of companies over the past 12 years get off the ground, while working with varied budgets. This is a classic case of give-and-take and everybody goes home happy. And since we always kick-ass on the work, our clients love to refer us to their friends. Eager to please? Totally. Hungry? Well…we’re always up for a good meal if that’s what you’re asking.

Howie

There is so much interesting stuff to chat about today I’m not sure where to start. I wanted to talk about Toyota’s mammoth PR problem with gas pedals that stick and have caused dozens of accidents, even death. But this is sure to go on for a while so there will be time to do a post-mortem once things are resolved. Besides, how could I discuss sticky pedals knowing that right now, across this country, Senior Citizens are sexting? Yep, you read it right. Seniors have gone amuck with their big-buttoned cell phones and are transmitting pictures of naughty senior body parts. And if that wasn’t enough, the Pope is saying to his priests, “Thou Shalt Blog.”

This is not a lecture about social media and the importance of having a voice; if you want to do it, you will. And if you’re not ready - don’t. But one cannot deny it’s pretty compelling that even the Pope is getting into the social media scene - in fact he has one of the most popular YouTube channels. And it doesn’t stop with the 82 year-old Pontiff - he’s encouraging priests to blog. Pope Benedict XVI said in a statement that priests should embrace social media and use it as a way to spread the word (I’m not sure if in this case that should be The Word). Just something to think about when you’re considering whether social media is right for your brand. After all if it’s good enough for the Pope, well…

Sexting. In case you’re not familiar with this term, sexting is the act of taking sexy photos and sending them via MMS. Until recently sexting was an activity practiced and enjoyed by primarily teens and those in their early twenties. But a report out today from the AARP shows a growing number of seniors are discovering a new activity with their phone, and likely adding data plans. (the data plan hypothesis is all mine). According to the AARP “More and more of the 50+ set, both single and married, are using text messaging to spice up their sex lives.” Again another proof point that underscores how much technology is changing our lives and reason to believe it’s never too late. So the next time your parents, or grandparents, ask for help with their cell phones or computers, perhaps you may want to avoid checking the SMS screen or browser history. Can you imagine!!??

Howie

Although you may think by the title of this post I’m going to rant about what big PR agencies do with their new biz pitches and PR plans, I’m not. Nor is this about what to do with pizza boxes and water bottles. The use of the word recycling for today’s purposes is about what companies can do with content created by the marketing and PR team. And I promise I won’t end this post with something along the lines of “For more information about how you can maximize your original content give BPR a call…we’d love to meet with you.” See, that is an example of why many people don’t trust company blogs.

A lot of great data comes from start-ups in the emerging tech space. Typically this data is about both the competitive landscape of a given category (cloud, mobility, open source, etc.) and customer specific use cases. Much time goes into this research and often the data is used just once for a sales presentation, or once for an analyst briefing, then retired to a My Documents folder never to be seeing again. Instead of parking that data think about how it can be repurposed for another audience or across the company. Many times what someone in sales has taken the time to create can easily be ported to the biz-dev team, to the CEO for a board meeting, used in marketing, etc. Let’s take an example of a company sponsored survey.

ACME CO. decides they’d like to gain a better understanding about the Widget market: who is using widgets, who plans to buy widgets, which widgets (that’s a mouthful) people want, how much companies plan to spend on widgets, and what are best strategies for widget implementation. Using various survey tools ACME CO. learns much about the widget market and is especially surprised about the variety of companies across vertical markets planning to integrate widgets into their enterprise. Great press release, right? Absolutely. But that should be where it starts, and unfortunately for many companies that is where it ends.

Social media offers a great opportunity to content recycle using blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other channels. Using the ACME CO. widget survey as an example here are the various ways ACME could promote.

TWITTER: ACME CO is active on Twitter and tweets often about industry news (not just thier own stuff). A tweet should go out about the surprising findings of the survey with a link back to the complete survey.

FACEBOOK: The marketing team should update the company’s Facebook page with data from the survey and some of the interesting findings about the explosion that’s set to occur in the widget market.

BLOG: Since we know ACME CO is a progressive company using all the tech tools available, we’ll assume the company maintains a blog where various members of the team contribute. The blog would be a great venue to share the survery results and possibly name specific companies surveyed who would otherwise not allow their name be used in press materials.

YOUTUBE: ACME CO. loves to post videos and they’ve decided to have fun, using a bit if animation, to demonstrate what the widget market will look like in a year according to thier survey findings. This not only is another channel to share the widget info but it gives the company a chance to show its personality.

In addition to using social media the survey can also provide great fodder for a case study on the widget market, for supporting points in speaking opportunities, or for a contributed (by line) article from the CEO.

Hopefully this has your wheels turning and you’ll add this to your company’s overall recycling program. Or if you think the idea is lame, you could always shred it!

Howie

Every once in a while something drops in your lap and you find yourself making that important decision: do I do something with this or simply move on? At first, when I received the Nadel Phelan present, I chose to move on. Then I thought “no I’m going to have fun with this one”.

If you know me, follow the blog, or have worked with BPR you know that we’re generally not big fans of most PR people or PR firms. Many, not all, do cut-and-paste work, boilerplate plans, and mediocre media relations. Is it any wonder why the PR industry has a bad rap? And those ridiculous programs so many agencies create - with meaningless acronyms - as a way to justify charging more; shame! Anyway - back to Nadel Phelan. Apparently this firm is looking for new clients, and they really like the companies we work with. I’m making this assumption since multiple clients received a silly note this week from the agency CEO, Paula Phelan, Phd. I realize Strategy 101 teaches never acknowledge your competition by name - or at all. But since BPR and Nadel Phelan clearly do business very differently, I do not consider them a competitor. So about this note: it’s not that I have a problem with PR agencies contacting our clients, after all they are a great group of companies, but it’s the desperate, lame, lazy, empty, thoughtless content that annoys me to no end. I’m so proud to say that in 11 years BPR has never, yeah I said it…never, sent a blanket note. And if the new business attempt is this cut-and-paste, what do the pitches look like to the media? Makes ya wonder. So here is the note that hit our clients and quite possibly many other folks this week.

Date: Tues, 12 Jan 2010
Subject: PR in 2010

Dear Jeff,
I meant to send this note to you last week, however, I believe the technology world has thrown cautious optimism to the wind. Based on conversations and my attendance at CES and NRF, I would suggest that we are entering a very bullish first quarter.

If you are considering taking advantage of this enthusiasm through public relations let us know and we will determine a plan that will best meet your goals.

Below are a few analyst predictions to start the year off - we will continue to send relevant factoids throughout the year focused on your offering.

Wishing you all the best in 2010!

Paula Phelan, CEO
Nadel Phelan, Inc.

Mobile Star Award for Best Wireless and Mobile Technology Public Relations Firm | SC Magazine’s PR Company of The Year (finalist) | Stevie Award For Women in Business | International Summit Creative Award | Platinum Hermes Creative Award | Communicator Award For Best PR Agency

From what I can tell everyone got the same note and the same predictions. This is precisely the kind of “work” that makes reporters and the industry not like PR people. It demonstrates a lack of effort and the subtext reads “I did not take the time to get to know your company“. Finally I’m confused about the “I meant to send this last week” line. Clearly -she didn’t send last week, so why mention it? Am I missing something?

I hope Nadel Phelan is wildly successful with their SPAM campaign and they keep me posted with relevant factoids throughout the year. I can’t wait

Howie

BPR - Seattle’s one and only PR firm committed to PR minus the BS, is hiring. We’re looking for a PR pro with 3-4 years experience doing technology PR for B2B products. We’re not looking for a consumer PR person – repeat – we are not looking for a consumer PR person. If you’re right for us you’ll be familiar with publications including InformationWeek, Network World, eWeek, Network Computing, and the likes. You’ll also know the drill about expectations, writing abilities, keeping clients super happy, and being an all around nice person.

Attention all recent college graduates, folks looking to start a new career, sales executives, graphic designers, pet detectives, and taxidermists: this job is not for you - sorry.

Interested? Let Jack know - jack@barokas.com

Howie

Happy New Year!

You need not look far to see a wave of optimism approaching our shores. A recent scan of headlines willl show the Dow finished the year up nearly 20%, the tech sector is poised for growth, the real estate market is slowly getting better, banks are easing restrictions on loans, the number of Americans filing for unemployment is down, FedEx earnings are up, and if all of that isn’t enough of a sign, some RV makers are hiring due to an increase in sales. Really, more RVs on the road? They are so hard to pass, especially when Ma and Pa are towing a small SUV behind the behemoth beast. I’m curious, do they go slow because they can’t go faster or is it that if one is piloting an RV they’ve got nothing but time and no need to hurry? I’m going with the latter.

Imagine how different this wacky world of tech (and PR) would be if we had the time and mindset of those RV drivers? Taking the time each day to carefully plan where we’re going, the best route to get there, and possible obstacles along the way. And the best part about it? If they don’t get where they wanted to go today - no problem - there is always tomorrow, or the next day. No VCs to answer to, no board members to inquire about why the miles traveled aren’t higher and fuel costs lower, or why they didn’t minimize travel time by taking the interstate rather than the country roads. Wouldn’t it be nice if every so often in our frenetic industry we could pull off the road and hit one of those Scenic Overlook lots - and just take it all in? Why am I writing about RV travels: stream of consciousness I suppose.

So back to optimism. Whether you’re launching a product, looking to secure funding, find a job, increase sales, or start a new company - 2010 looks to be a much better year than the last few. May the Force be with us and may we all find the some time to take the scenic route this year.

Later 2009.

Howie

Urinal, what a horrible word. No matter in what context it’s used, it is just an awful word. But like George Washington said to his dad after the whole Cherry Tree incident, “I cannot tell a lie,” which brings me back to the urinal and my source of inspiration.

A few weeks ago we stopped for Pho (pronounced Pha - a Vietnamese noodle soup) and I made a quick visit to “the room”. While standing at the urinal I noticed, in front of my nose, an air freshener/automatic toilet cleaning device called the Sanor System. It wasn’t actually the device that caught my eye, nor was it the pleasant smell of Pine that had my attention. It was the simple, concise messaging this sanitary restroom supply company put on their product: Sanor System: Clean Restrooms. Happy People. Brilliant - in just a few words it accomplishes everything - the name of the product and what it does: it makes restrooms (at least urinals) clean and that makes people happy. I was inspired and the Sanor revelation was the topic at the table, until the soup arrived.

How is it that a sanitation company with, I’m assuming a small or no marketing team, comes up with 4 words that absolutely define it? This is what inspired me. Year after year we work with clients as they endeavor to find, or make-up, the words that will be used as standard company messaging. Most often this is an iterative process that ends when “majority rules” across marketing and the exec ranks. But sometimes the process never ends - usually because one or more of the decision makers feels like the true-essence of the company/product is not being captured. Typically this at the point where filler words are being tossed about like: We’re an end-to-end, multi-layered, on-demand provider with scalable architecture that works across multiple platforms. Huh? Yeah that’s going to be AWESOME in a pitch!

I have somewhat faint memories from my Communications classes at the UW - it was 1988 - but I do recall a professor lecturing about the KISS Principle aka Keep It Simple Stupid. A very simple marketing principle yes, but one that somehow gets overlooked when the task of messaging is at hand. I’m not sure if this messaging paralysis analysis comes from fear of not saying enough, saying too much, or not saying the right thing, or if it’s driven from a competitive stance, ie: our competition messages this way. Whatever the reason I believe companies win when brevity in messaging is embraced and the words used actually describe the nature of the product; for example PR minus the BS. Yes that was a shameless plug.

So next time you’re thinking about messaging maybe it’s time to get your mind in the toilet. Clean Restrooms. Happy People.

Howie